The substance of youth - the place of drugs in young people's lives today

By Perri 6, Ben Jupp, Helen Perry and Kristen Lasky, November 1997

9. Conclusion

Britain is not in the grip of a 'drug culture'. Drugs have a role in various social groups, but in nearly all of these sub-cultures drugs are not the defining feature. In fact, recreational drug users are little different in their overall outlooks and values than non-users.

Youth cultures in Britain are many, various and locally specific. Most young people who use drugs are as sociable, sensible, and morally aware as non-users and are thoughtful and discriminating in their ideas about the use of drugs and their place in their lives and cultures. Some young recreational users do, however, need advice so that if they are going to take drugs, they can do so with reasonable safety and cope with an emergency.

It is not suprising that young people who are trapped in environments where facilities and prospects are poor should take drugs, nor that they are the ones least likely to use drugs safely and sensibly. Intelligent analysis of the needs of young people in these communities is needed. This research suggests that simple condemnation with an authoritarian law enforcement policy is not the most effective way of helping the situation.

There is some evidence that authoritarian drugs policy has already failed. Our research confirms that overly alarmist messages, combined with policy centred on policing, and the implicit message that there is somehting fundamentally suspect about forms of fun that young people enjoy, has seriously damaged the credibility of current drugs policy amongst young people.

It would be a wasted opportunity if the proposed drugs czar simply resurrected this failed policy. Such an approach would reflect a fatalistic judgement of the moral and social resources within young people's cultures and fail to mobilise the resources which this study shows young people possess.

It is possible the drugs czar could:

be a champion for harm reduction programmes
be a key figure in disseminating best practice in the design of harm reduction programmes
set standards for drug-related services and arrange accreditation for those sevices which met the standards

In short, there is a role at the national level to set the basic standards that initiatives should meet. However, the diversity between areas shown in this study suggests that policies should primarily be designed and implemented locally.

The goals of harm reduction and safer use, drug education, prevention and diversity can only be achieved by empowering local networks to work with young people in ways that engage with local youth cultures.